Italy makes cross-border bust of nearly 600lb of heroin

The European agency that co-ordinates cross-border investigations said it was the largest seizure in Genoa in 20 years.

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Heroin haul

European authorities say they have seized 595lb of heroin in Genoa’s port and allowed part of it to travel on, under police surveillance, to its final destination in the Netherlands where two people were arrested.

Eurojust, the European agency that co-ordinates cross-border investigations, called the drug bust the largest in Genoa in 20 years.

Police said the heroin was camouflaged in bags of bentonite, a clay powder used in skincare products, which was transported from the Iranian port of Bandar Abbas aboard a tanker named Artabaz.

Genoa authorities seized the shipment on October 17, but allowed part of it to continue on.

Authorities followed the container truck through Switzerland, Luxembourg, France, Germany and Belgium before it arrived at an abandoned warehouse in Roosendal, Netherlands, on November 2.